Trauma patients who test positive for marijuana upon their admission to the intensive care unit are less likely to die during hospitalization than are age-matched controls, according to data published online ahead of print in The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. A team of researchers from the University of Arizona analyzed the in-hospital […]

CONCORD, NH — Advocates for legalizing and regulating marijuana in New Hampshire sent a letter to Gov. Chris Sununu on Thursday, asking him to veto House Bill 215, a bill that would create a study commission to consider marijuana legalization and regulation. The letter, which was signed by leading advocates including the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. […]

PARMA, ITALY — Oral cannabis administration is safe and effective for the treatment of chronic pain conditions, according to clinical data published in the Journal of Pain Research. Italian researchers conducted a retrospective case series analysis assessing the use of cannabinoids for intractable pain in a cohort of over 600 patients. Study subjects were typically over […]

African Americans in Virginia are arrested for violating marijuana possession laws at more than three times the rates of whites and this disparity is rising, according to an analysis of statewide arrest data by Virginia Commonwealth University’s Capital News Service. Researchers reviewed 160,000 state and local arrest records from the years 2010 through 2016. They […]

Adults often substitute cannabis for the use of prescription medications, according to data published in the Journal of Pain Research. Investigators from the Bastyr University Research Institute assessed the frequency of drug substitution among a self-selected national sample of 2,774 self-identified marijuana consumers. Just under half of respondents (46 percent) reported using cannabis in place […]

ATHENS, GA — Patients use fewer prescription drugs in states where access to medical cannabis is legally regulated, according to data published in the journal Health Affairs. Investigators at the University of Georgia assessed the association between medical cannabis regulations and the average number of prescriptions filled by Medicaid beneficiaries between the years 2007 and […]

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Patients registered to use medical cannabis decrease their use of opioids, according to data compiled by researchers at the University of New Mexico. Investigators assessed the use of prescription opioids over an 18-month period among patients enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program compared to similar patients who were not. They reported […]

VICTORIA, BC — Patients with legal access to medical cannabis reduce their use of opioids, benzodiazepines, and other prescription drugs, according to data published online ahead of print in The International Journal of Drug Policy. Researchers at the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia assessed the use of medical cannabis and prescription […]

CONCORD, NH — A bi-partisan group of lawmakers in New Hampshire has filed a bill that would create a commission to study the legalization, taxation and regulation of marijuana in the Granite State. House Bill 215 is sponsored in the House by Reps. Robert Cushing (D) and John O’Connor (R), and in the Senate by Sens. Dan […]

The passage of medical marijuana legalization is associated with reduced traffic fatalities among younger drivers, according to data published online ahead of print in the American Journal of Public Health. Investigators from Columbia University in New York and the University of California at Davis analyzed traffic fatality data from the years 1985 to 2014. They […]